


Those who we want to be

by Theta Sigma (Kiriahtan)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Cole Anderson is alive, Connor and Hank relationship walkthrough, Connor tries to understand Hank while Hank tries to understand Connor, M/M, Sumo is a good boi, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-20 16:30:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21059717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiriahtan/pseuds/Theta%20Sigma
Summary: What if Cole Anderson was alive?





	Those who we want to be

**Author's Note:**

> It's a bit difficult for me to upload this. This fic was meant to be my piece for the zine DBH: software inestability, but the organization of the zine cancelled it after they received the pieces. This was around April maybe? But I finished this around January. I don't know if someone is going to read it now but, please, enjoy it. I really like this idea and I really like writing it.

Despite the fact that all his programming was currently directed to resolver one single question -what had caused the deviants?- there was a question that Connor couldn't help to wonder about Lieutenant Hank Anderson since he had met him for the first time, drinking in that bar: why was the lieutenant so determined to prove himself as the worst cop possible? Surely Lieutenant Anderson was doing a great job but, in the end, he couldn't hide the fact that he isn't. Neither CyberLife nor the captain Fowler would have put an inept in charge as such an important investigation. Of course Amanda wanted to him to resolve the problem with the deviated androids before the police do, so CyberLife had advantage to find a solution that minimized the damage these cases were doing to the company. But they neither want a complete negligent in the case. And the fact was that when Connor managed to get Hank to be at the scene, he turned out to be good. Vey good. Connor saw him pick up details that others agents were overlooking, seeing beyond the mere evidence and tying up thing others didn't even see. So, why was him insisting on his terrible actitude?

Connor's first approach was to bear with Anderson, trying to his personality to damage his research as little as possible. He had tried to be cold and objective, proffesional. After Connor had determined the best way to achieve his goals to adapt to Hank's peculiarities, avoiding unnecessary conflicts. In order to do this Connor had to understand minimally the Lieutenant. Unaware of this, this secondary goal, useful only for what it contributed to his main objective, had been growing and growing until now Connor was thinking about it as he saw Hank walk in front of him and without turning around to check if he was behind. Convinced that Connor was following. And indeed, he was doing it.

This was the situation that while Hank was in the Captain’s office talking to Fowler, Connor looked over his should to check that he was out of Hank's vision range. Then he leaned over his check, searching for evidence. The tracks of human behavior were always around the individual. It was not that the contexts conditioned the person, but the human beings created the contexts around themselves. At the end both elements -the individual and the environment- interacted and were linked.

(That’s how criminal investigations worked. Somehow trying to understand Hank was like an investigation too.)

* * *

Amanda -CyberLife- had notified a new case for them. However that morning Hank wasn't in the office -it can be expected. Connor had tried just in case-, nor the nearest bars -which was a surprise-. The android asked the captain but Jefferson only snorted "Don't make me think about Anderson, it gives me headaches". Other of the agents told him that it was his day off. Which left Connor on himself alone to find the lieutenant.

With no more clues to follow, Connor elicited again his file. Was it lawfull? He could access any written data about lieutenant or anyone. However it felt unappropriated like he was violating his privacy by spying his home address and going there.

Connor had given Hank an hour while well-behaving waiting in the office. Then he follow the address on the file. He couldn't delay more the investigation.

However the shift seemed to be in vain: when Connor knocked on the door of the house -single-family, located in the residential area of Detroit, with the garden having known surely better days in the past. It suit the Lieutenant if Connor analyzed it-, no one answered. Connor skirted the place, peering into the house for on of the windows, searching for live sings, but there was no one there. He couldn't even hear the dog that Hank had. Sumo was the name. If Sumo was there, he'd have had to bark when he heard him, but this didn't happen.

With this unsuccessfully thread Connor exhausted all the paths until he found the lieutenant, but seeking literally bar by bar throughout the whole city. These would be so much time so Connor should desist on this option.

Instead of this he sat on the entrance, waiting. The daylight was inadvertently declining.

"Dad, dad, can we go to the amusement park next week?"

"Yor mother will scold me if I do that... It's not summer."

"Please! I always do my homework with mom. She said we were going to go in summer but it's November and we didn't go!"

"Your mother has a lot of work, thats probably why..."

"So pretty pleeeeaaaaaseeeeeee with sugar on toooop!"

"'kay". I'll talk to her. I don't promise anything!"

"Yay! Thank you so much! You're the best!"

"Am I?"

A dog barked strongly at that moment.

Connor had stood up when he heard the first voices -the first one, a child, happy; the second one, an adult, tired but pushing itself-. He stopped to review the information he had collected so far. Connor used to do this when he had free time: reread, reordered, re, re, re, until something new appear, something he had been missing. This time the two human voices came before any revelation.

Further, just a few meters of distance, was Hank accompanied by a large mastiff dog -the biggest one Connor had seen in his existence- and a child of dark blond hair. He went hand in hand with the lieutenant, who had changed his jacked and trimmed his beard. Hank had stoped abruptly when he saw Connor. He was the last thing he expected to see now, probably.

"What are you doing here?" Hank blurted out, without advancing the few steps that separated him from home.

"Dad?" The boy raised the look toward his father.

Connor created a deliberately kind smile, carefully calculating the exact parameters to make it as friendly as possible, inclining himself and supporting his hand on his knees to look at the boy in the eyes.

"Cole?" He saluted. "Hi, how are you?"

The child went backwards, just a small step, trying to hide behind his father. Sumo barked one again. Of course, the dog didn't knew him so he was confused, assumed Connor.

"Hello, Sumo", he greeted the dog also, using the information he had about him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Hank again. His accent closed and tense.

"We have a new case", Connor informed him, plainly because it was the truth. "I couldn't find you at the station". Because of the child he avoided in the last minute to mention the bar.

"Are you an android?" asked Cole instead, looking a bit and noticing all the details that made that clear.

Connor maintained his smile.

"Yes, I work with your father."

"Are you a policeman?" Cole sounded impressed, his childish big eyes wide open.

"More or less" answered Connor, looking Hank sideways, valuing his body language. The lieutenant was motionless right now, but seemed uncomfortable. "I didn't know you father was with you, I don't want to steal your time together so I can wait."

The child nodded eagerly, still griping his father's hand.

"My mom is coming for me now" explained.

"Yes? I'm glad to heard that" Connor said, distorting his voice just as humans usually do with children. After that he looked at Hank. "I'll wait there" offered the android, moving away in order to not disturb.

Hank didn't say anything and Connor fulfilled his word: he walked to the end of the residential street. The sky was slowly growing dark but he hope they could go to the scene today.

A silver car twisted the corner of the street at that time, parking in front of the Lieutenant Anderson's house. And even if Connor didn't want to look -this wasn't relevant information for his objectives- he observed how a woman got out of the card and hugged Cole. At the very same moment the boy started to talk, with a very fluent non-verbal language, telling her about his day. She smiled. Hank stood on the sidelines until the woman offered herself to shake hands politely. Cole was already inside the car by this time, saying goodbye with his hand to his father and, surprise, to Connor. That produced to the woman to look in his direction and Hank saying something that he didn't heard but can guess: 93% sure some kind of grunt.

"Can you explain me what the hell are you doing here?" Hank barked to him as soon as the car was gone. Sumo ran after his master. The dog barked too and Hank muttered an "hush, Sumo". But, giving the fact that the dog was moving his tail excited and his tongue was out of his mouth looking at Connor, the animal didn't seem half of angry has his owner.

Anyway Connor moved away, just in case.

"CyberLife sent me information of a potentially relevant new case for our investigation."

"It's my day off! This's my damn house!"

"I couldn't find you anywhere else so I assumed you were here." And he was right.

"Because it's my day off!" grunted again the lieutenant.

"Sorry, I didn't think you could be with your son." And that was true: If he did, he wouldn't have gone. He would have waited until tomorrow. "But it's important: a homicide was reported forty-three minutes ago when CyberLife notificed to me. We're late."

"Is there only work for you, eh?" mumbled Anderson.

"That's what I'm programed for" Connor had no trouble admitting it.

"And what do you do when you're not on duty then?"

"Disconnect myself. Energy-saving. If there are any cases, I check the material."

Hank didn't seem to expect to him to respond his question. The lieutenant just stared at him, presumably analyzing him vaguely. At the end the human grunted out -a grunt that Connor was beginning to recognize what it meant.

"Agh. Just gimme a sec, okay?" The police yielded and turn around to bring Sumo to the house and take his jacked. While grumbling to himself.

* * *

"I wasn't as good as husband as I thought, that why she left." Hank spoke suddenly. He was sitting in the back, facing the river and the snow that had left already a small layer on his jacket. As he left his eyes lost in the water. "I wasn't as good as a father as I wanted, neither; and, without doubt, probably I wasn't as good police as I believed myself."

"Your file doesn't say the same thing" Connor pointed this objectively. Making Hank laugh with almost no noise.

"You may be surprised, metalhead, but not only files matter."

The lieutenant was silent for a moment, doubting whether to give another drink to the beer.

"She decided to leave because I was always working, only marry to work, and I didn't realize until it was too late. You see what that's been for."

"Your son seems to appreciate you."

Hank raised his look to him, on the verge of frowning. On the verge of take the mention of his son bad. In the last moment he realized whom was him talking to. He couldn't blame Connor for evil.

"He is still a kid to understand." Hank said resignedly. And then he did give the drink

"Do you still miss her?" The android asked, remembering the handshake.

"... No. It wouldn't be worth trying again. It wouldn't work." There was always a remain of the pain to overcome, but in those two years something changed, something that mitigated the pain but also the connection they used to had. There were occasion when he didn't want to overcome, situations in which he sat down and drink. Usually before Cole was back with her. It was better for Cole, he truly thought it. It had been hard to accept it but he did. It just... hurt, sometimes.

"And that is why you behave this way?" Connor asked then. Hank tilted his head in Connor's direction, not following his words. "You just said you wasn't a good husband, no father, no cop. Is that why you're none of those three now?"

"..."

"Your son is still here, and your job is too. And, in fact, you aren't working hard in none of the two, just taking pity of yourself."

"Damn junk..." Hank threw the glass bottle, which sounded against the river's surface clearly in the night.

Connor smiled.

"Really? You did insisted pretty hard that I am not just a machine, despite of the fact that it's obvious that I am."

Once again Hank pierced him in the eye. If looks would kill, and if android could properly "die", Connor would be a corpse right now. But he couldn't and the lieutenant had to end up by giving up.

"Let's go to visit that Kamski guy" he said finally, standing up and putting his hands in his pockets. "Damn android..." said to himself again, high enough to Connor hear him but still low. Connor followed him without saying anything more and still with a small smile.

* * *

It looked like a dead-end street when they went out of the captain's office. The orders were definitive and clear, even though his processor wanted to refuse to digest them. it was not only the conclusion of failure into finding out what was the cause of the divergence problem, but the first mission he didn't accomplish. And there was something else, chocked between his circuits, which he couldn't understand until Hank spoke -deep, clear, low voice:

"What if we are in the wrong side?"

Connor locked back to him. Were Hank hinting what he thought he was hinting? But Hank held his gaze, not turn aside.

"Aren't you worried about your son?" Connor suddenly considered this, just a few hours late, when they were about to split ways. The CyberLife's taxi had to be about to arrive and by then he had to be alone. But the question was still there and he had to ask it before Hank left.

"Hm" The man looked serious, thoughtful. "He was with his mother. She will know what to do. She's smarter than me and you together."

"If a Civil War break out even the most foresighted could be in danger."

"Depends on how long it takes." The police counter-argument. Then he sighed. "There are times when you have to do what it's right, Connor. Despite the risk."

Hank turned around, without giving him any chance to respond. It was just in time: the taxi showed at the same time, stopping in front of Connor and he went into it.

* * *

He said goodbye to Markus while the night began to die. The rebel leader offered him to join them, but Connor kindly rejected the offer. He was a divergent, now he knew, and supported the rebellion, but looking at Marku and his fellow of Jericho who he had tried to hunk down until a day ago, he didn't feel that he belonged to there.

It was hard to know where he could belong to now.

"If you ever need it... you will always have a place with us" Markus said to him however, as he could read his mind while grabbing his hand. But he wasn't doing that, Markus was just looking him in the eye. Those two different eyes appeared to see through the metal.

Connor nodded, thanking him for the offer.

* * *

He didn't know where Hank could be. They hadn't said anything when they had splatted ways in te tower -"Go and do what you have to" had encouraged him Hank before any authority reached the tower. He stated there to deal with them if necessary and play the fool. Now Hank could be anywhere: at home, at the police station... All the bars in the city would be closed and probably would remain as well throughout the whole 12th of November.

Also the food trucks would.

The whole world had changed that night. And now it was slowly but surely dawning. As the light of a new day came in the empty streets, the evidence of the rebellion was visible. A new era that begun that day but still would have to settle. Markus and his people had yet a lot of work ahead them.

There was no logical reason for which he would go there. Connor was thinking about how to get in contact with Hank when he saw the figure of the old policeman, waiting exactly in the place.

He was in front of the Chicken Feed, below the highway.

That was the first place he had _really_ talk with Hank.

It had been just a few days since then but it felt like an eternity.

When Hank saw him, Hank hugged him. Strongly.

It felt right. It felt safe.

"I'm glad you're okay, Connor" Hank said before letting him go.

"What are you going to do now, hm?" Hank asked after a while. Now that CyberLife has gone to shit, was understood. The news didn't say anything yet, but they will do.

"I don't know" he said, being fully honest. He had gone beyond his program. Now he had no instructions to obey, no investigation to follow.

He could do whatever he wanted.

But what did he wanted?

Hank observed him sideways.

"If you need it... you can stay with me until you decide."

Connod looked at him. The offer was sincere. The lieutenant dragged the words as he always do. But Hank seemed sure.

Connor accepted.

* * *

"Connor" Hank called him from the kitchen's door.

It had been barely ten days. On television, Markus and North appeared all the time, also the president, the negotiations between humans and androids... everything. While Detroit recovered, trying to adapt itself dizzily and without right instructions to that new world. Even the police station didn't fully work these day. Even though Hank was back. "You may be right" he had said, when he took his jacket ready to return to work. Connod had accompanied him.

Captain Jefferson had designated Connor as detective. He was the first android detective.

Connor raised his eyes toward Hank. He didn't expected him. As thing settled, it had been going day by day. And it seemed natural -though neither of them had said it aloud- that he android had moved in to live with him. But today it was supposed that Hank was going to spend outside, with Cole. The lieutenant's son had past the critical days with her mother, as Hank had predicted. Successfully out of danger.

The man cleared his throat now.

"Come. I have someone I would lie to introduce you to" he explained, opening then the door and letting someone pass into, until their looks found.

"Connor... This is Cole. Cole, this is Connor."


End file.
